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Special Edition: 4-Tips on Data Protection for Manufacturers

Data Protection for ManufacturersYour major competitive advantage versus other manufacturers could be a super-secret proprietary process.

Maybe you have customer service methods that are so efficient and pleasing to your customers that you don’t want anyone else finding out. And of course, you don’t want someone to steal your client’s information.

Data protection breaches happen all the time, even though we live in a highly technological society. You’d think we’d be able to stay ahead of cyber criminals, but often that doesn’t happen. It can be disastrous when your data is breached.

If you’re in the manufacturing industry, this is what you can do to keep the bad guys out:

1. Email virus scanning and employee training:

This is one of those things that you can never review too much. Antivirus software can scan your emails for infected attachments, but your employees also need to know which e-mails are and are not okay to open. Generally, if they have no clue who the sender is or why they’re getting certain emails, there’s a chance they are from cyber criminals. 99% of spam emails are obvious, but every once in a while you get a very cleverly crafted one that looks real – and gets by your antivirus. Make sure your employees review e-mail safety best practices regularly.

2. Keep E-mail from Being Hacked:

Besides the virus issue, you’re also sending sensitive corporate data through e-mail. You don’t want someone to hack into your e-mails and steal your next strategic marketing campaign’s secrets. If you share any data through e-mail, it should be encrypted so only the right people can see it. Cyber criminals more typically target e-mails than stealing end user login credentials.

3. Backup All Your Devices:

We’re talking apart from all your desktop PCs. You have to reliably and securely backup all your laptops, tablet PCs, and smartphones.

4. You Must Protect Your Data from Your Own Employees Too:

Hopefully, everyone you hire is honest. But, you never know that…until you find out the hard way.

One Intel employee was accused of stealing $1 billion in trade secrets and passing them off to their top competitor, AMD! When a lot of money is on the table, otherwise honest people can sometimes make wrong decisions.

Make sure every employee has access to what they need to access – and that’s it. Use identity management to make sure it’s actually them logging in. Encrypt files, password protect them, and assign specific users access. You can also install software that allows you to wipe devices clean remotely. There’s no such thing as a 100% perfect data security system, but you can make it much more likely your data doesn’t end up in the wrong hands.

Wrapping It Up…

Protecting your data is a constantly evolving task. You need to either have a dedicated IT security team of your own, or consider an outsourced option.

Cyber criminals won’t ever slow down their efforts, so make sure you’re doing everything possible to stay one step ahead.

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

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Importance of a Law Firm Disaster Planning in IT Support

This article was written by attorney James W. Slater of the Ohio law firm Slater & Zurz LLP

Disaster recovery for law firmsAlthough it seems quite remarkable that a business would not back up computer files in a more sophisticated way than duplicating data to the “C” drive or having an external tape device, some businesses have rather primitive planning disasters that threaten those files and, in some cases, seriously affect the future of the business.

Earlier this year, a law firm in Charlotte, NC fell victim to Crypto Locker which came in the form of an innocuous-looking e-mail.  Once the e-mail was opened, the virus spread to every computer file in the firm.  Everything was locked, but accessible by the payment of a $300 credit card fee to an address that could not be traced.  The fee was due by a certain deadline and as the North Carolina firm frantically tried to discover the identity of the perpetrator of this virus, the deadline for paying the $300 passed and the files, which were not backed up, could not be retrieved.

Crypto Locker is no longer a threat but new viruses which are just as dangerous are constantly being discovered.

Other law firms have reported their files literally going up in smoke in a building fire, and some have suffered damage due to flooding from hurricanes.  How could some of these practitioners have prevented some of the grief they suffered?

DRP and a BCP

Sounds a bit like ingredients for alphabet soup, but the letters stand for Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP).

Disaster Recovery (DR) is the process an organization uses to recover access to its software data and/or hardware to resume normal and critical business functions after a natural disaster or disaster precipitated by humans.   When creating a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP), one needs to remember possible effects on the organization’s manpower due to the disaster as well as loss of equipment and downtime.  Thus, the plan should include how to operate without key personnel as well as how to recover data.

DRPs are part of the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) which is an agreed upon arrangement by management and key personnel of what will be done to help the organization recover in the event of a disaster.  Detailed plans of how to restore/recover critical operations that may be completely or partially   disrupted are formulated.  An important part of both DRPs and BCPs is to regularly practice the plans and update them as the business experiences changes such as new personnel, a new branch office, etc.

Some of the many benefits of modernized backup and recovery are:

    • Protection from financial loss in a catastrophic event
    • Improved operational efficiencies and increased staff productivity
    • Dramatic improvement in RTO (Recovery Time Objectives)  and RPO (Recovery Point Objectives) to ensure business continuity
    • Decreased storage expenses

Disaster Preparedness Whitepaper

Most disasters strike when you least expect them. Some – like hurricanes – give you more warning. But in either case, it’s a real problem if disaster brings your business to a grinding halt. Forces of nature, malicious acts, or even a simple mistake can have a long-lasting negative effect on your data security and law firm IT Support practices. Download this whitepaper to learn more about some first steps and follow-up steps you can take to upgrade your disaster preparedness.

Slater & Zurz has been representing clients throughout Ohio with all types of legal issues for over 40 years. The law firm has handled over 30,000 personal injury related cases and helped clients receive more than $150,000,000 in verdicts and settlements. For more information, please visit www.slaterzurz.com

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5 Reasons Why Laptop Repairs Are More Difficult And Expensive

laptop repairLaptops have become thinner, lighter, faster and their screens more brilliant than ever before. However, packing all this technology in an increasingly shrinking form factor has made it increasingly difficult to repair when the time comes. Unlike with laptops that were sold a few years ago, today the latest Ultrabooks are a lot thinner but also a lot more difficult to disassemble and have few replaceable and repairable parts.  Laptops that can be repaired can only be repaired by a certified PC repair technician who has been especially trained to carry out laptop repairs of these kinds.

Here are 5  reasons repairing the latest laptops have become increasingly expensive:

    1. The use of proprietary components: This is one of the leading reasons why repairing laptops have become expensive. In order to keep things light and small many manufacturers have to make custom components that are only standardized for their particular product. So, when one laptop is replaced with a new model it can be near impossible to find replacement parts. There are some manufacturers that do not even have replacement parts for their own laptops so it’s up to the laptop repair technician to figure out an alternative repair method or simply declare it unrepairable. Either way it’s expensive!
    2. More integrated circuits: Integrated circuits happen to be the leading reason why the size of consumer electronics is shrinking almost every day. However, the biggest drawback of ICs as they are commonly referred to as is the fact that they do not have screws or hinges that can be lifted in order to open them up and replace faulty parts. When an IC blows it needs to be replaced but finding a replacement is not easy. 80% of the ICs used in laptops today cannot be purchased by a regular repair centre and those that can are very expensive. This adds additional overhead to any repair job. Some smart laptop repair engineers will improvise but often times these choices will mean that the laptop does not last very long. The alternative of course will be to send the laptop back to the manufacturer for repairs if it’s still under warranty.
    3. The latest components are not designed to be repaired: Let’s face it – even though Apple’s Retina display may look good, but even a brilliant authorized laptop repair technician cannot take one apart and fix the lighting or a malfunctioning panel. The reason being that in order to ensure that the Retina display looks brilliant and to hide the proprietary technology contained within it, Apple and other similar manufactures have decided to seal everything inside. There are no screws or hinges that technicians can undo to take the display apart. So, the only way a technician can fix a failing MacBook Air display is to find a replacement retina display which often costs hundreds of dollars, and is often sold by someone whose laptop has failed but the display is still good and is trying to recover some of his investment by selling the display. This makes the repair process both difficult and expensive from a consumer’s stand point.
    4. The price of connecting wires and boards have risen steadily: Things like the keyboard connector, the screen connection cable etc., seem to all vary from one manufacturer to the next. There some that only use a specific type of connector which is not interchangeable with those of other laptops. So, when these wires fail an otherwise cheap fix of simply replacing a wire by a technician can often become expensive owing to the rising cost of these wires. Since the screen’s cable is the most commonly failing item in 90% of laptops the price of this repair varies widely but happens to be the most expensive for laptops with high resolution displays.
    5. Fault detection takes hours: While components were larger in the past they made detection of failure points easier. Today according to experts shrinking components have made it increasingly difficult to find failure points. Laptop repairs that once took an hour or two now can end up taking the whole day. Also, literally hundreds of screws, adhesive and tape used in laptops makes the process even more cumbersome and so these are repairs can only be handled by experts.

Click Here for a FREE Hour of PC Repair!

This article was a guest blog post from Mark at smartseo. Mark has been repairing laptops for over a decade. Before he repaired laptops he was a computer repair technician with a degree in computer science. In all his years of repairing electronics he has never come across a laptop which couldn’t be fixed provided that the right tools and replacement parts were available. 
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5 Printer Repair Problems that Show It’s Time for a New Printer

Printer RepairHas your printer reached the end of its life?

If you’re experiencing a need for one of these repairs, it has in most cases.

Check out some printer repair problems that show it’s more worth your time and money to buy a new printer instead:

1.    Ink Systems that Clog too Frequently:
Some printers are known to do this, and they can clog so often that the printer’s not even worth using. In reality, your ink system should never clog. So if it’s happening regularly, it makes more sense to get invest in a new printer.

2.    The Print Heads Need Cleaning Way Too Often:
You should be able to use your printer once every few days and it should work fine every time you use it. With some cheaply made printers, the print heads need cleaning if you don’t use them that often.
Don’t put up with the nuisance. Instead, get a new printer so your company can operate efficiently and effectively.

3.    You Have to Manually Perform Operations that Should Work Automatically:
Some printers for example, are so low in quality that you have to manually hit a button to feed the printer paper (this was the case with the now-ancient HP 5940). Don’t accept that with your printer. If it can’t perform basic operations without any trouble, it’s never going to help your business.

4.    Wireless Printers that Constantly, and Mysteriously, Lose their Connection:
Every once in a while, it is possible that a good printer loses its connection with your wireless network. About once every 3 months or so is an acceptable rate and it should be a simple fix to get it reconnected. However, if your printer loses connection more often than that, and you’ve confirmed it’s your printer that’s the source of the problem, trash it and get a new one. It’s not worth your time to constantly fix it and wireless network problems can be a time-consuming nightmare to fix.

5.    You Have to Constantly Reinstall the Drivers & Software:
Again, this is another unacceptable problem. You should never have to do this, unless you just bought a new computer or had to replace its hard drive.

The Moral of the Story: Only Buy High-Quality Printers

Regardless of the type of printer you’re buying, make sure you buy one that gets very good reviews. Look for 4 stars or more on most e-commerce websites and after you check out the printer itself, see what people say about the company. Printer problems happen on even the best pieces of equipment from time to time, so you want reliable customer service just in case something bad happens.

Running your business is so much easier when you have reliable equipment in place and trustworthy companies backing it.

Get Great Lakes Printer Sales Information

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

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Data Security Challenges Law Firms Face with Younger Attorneys

Law Firm IT SupportNot long ago I wrote an article for this blog entitled “Why Law Firms Need an IT Policy for Data Security” and it discussed young employees’ (specifically, millenials) computer behavior and how it is impacting Law Firm IT Support and data security.  Check out these stats:

    • Seven out of ten (70%) young employees break their companies’ IT policies regularly.
    • 33% don’t think they are doing anything wrong
    • 22% feel they need access to unauthorized applications for their jobs
    • 19% cite lack of enforcement
    • 18% cite a lack of time to think about the policies, 16% say policies are inconvenient, and 15% ‘forget’ to abide by these policies
    • 61% say the responsibility for protecting information and devises falls on the IT service provider and not on individual employees

These numbers are alarming and highlight the need for updating IT Support policies as the next generation of employees take on a greater role in your firms.  The single most important step to ensuring your IT security is safe is communication of your policies on computer and internet usage.  And if you don’t have policies in place and written, do soe.

It is not just in the area of IT Support that companies and law firms need to work with multi-generational issues.  The Greater Cleveland Partnership shared this piece earlier this month which addresses other areas employers should pay particular attention to:

For middle-market managers, creating a cohesive team is a challenge as different personalities, different genders and different life experiences come together. One of the biggest issues may be generational, as different generations are now sharing the workplace.

Three generations—Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials—bring different styles of leadership, communication, motivation and work ethics to the office. Meshing these differences is the key to creating a harmonious group so that business can get done seamlessly.

What should a manager do to be proactive in addressing and minimizing these differences?

1.  Build a team:  Start with team-building exercises. A day-long team-building session, preferably away from the office, is a great way to begin.

2. Hold regular meetings: Middle-market managers should not get too satisfied with just one great day of intergenerational discussion. After a dynamic session of training, the cohesiveness of the team can easily be lost without follow-up. One way to work subtly in follow-up is to hold regular staff meetings that not only address tangible to-do items, but also allow for open dialogue, so any misunderstandings can be addressed. This is a much more positive approach rather than waiting for a problem to emerge and then holding a meeting to fix it.

3. Create balanced teams: Finally, managers will also have to monitor their choices as they form teams or committees. It is important that those groups be a mix of ages and genders, so all voices and viewpoints can be represented. Consistently creating working committees that favor one generation over another will destroy the goodwill and team building that the talk session created.

Young employees are a great asset for law firms, as they bring fresh ideas and new perspectives, as well as endless vigor and energy.  But steps must be taken to ensure they are fitting well and adding to the efficiency of your firm.  Taking steps to create a good work environment across generations, and having written rules for internet and network usage can go a long way in both your IT security and your firm’s security for the future.

Learn more about our Data Security Product Suite

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5 Ways to Convince Your IT Support Team Outsourcing’s Okay

IT SupportImagine this:

You’ve been an employee working loyally for your company for years. Now, after all this hard work, you hear that your company is going to start looking at outsourcing options.

Your personal position at work may not be impacted at all by outsourcing. However, your employee’s minds will be flooded with fears. Primarily, they’ll be worried about their job security.

Employees worried about their job security may check out mentally, no longer doing a good job for you. Or, they might find another position quickly and leave. Finally, they might just tolerate the situation until its bitter end, but they’ll be so frightened all the way through that they make more mistakes.

And if you do hire an outsourced IT support team, your existing employees may do nothing to help them because they don’t want to lose their own positions.

So how do you build bridges between the two, so that your current employees feel comfortable with your outsourced IT team?

Here’s what to do:

    1. Be Honest: If you’re going to replace some employees with an outsourced IT team, be honest and do it right away. Don’t mince words. Your employees will trust your actions more than anything. Do what you say you are going to do.
    2. For the Employees You Keep, Let Them Know Their Positions are Secure:Every human being craves absolute security. They can never have that, but the more you can give to them, the better. Tell the employees you are not going to let go that they are going to remain with you, and give them strong reasons why.
    3. Discuss that the Goal is a Partnership:If the remaining employees believe they are secure in their positions, they will be much more likely to work their hardest for your company. If you give them even a small reason to doubt this is true, they won’t help your outsourced IT team at all. To clarify how the partnership works, identify the strengths of your IT team. Also, take note of the weaknesses, and show how the outsourced IT support team will shore up the weaknesses.  It makes the most business sense because long-term workplace studies have shown employees are more effective when they use their strengths, rather than improving their weak points.
    4. Allow Employees to Ask Questions: Establish an open dialogue throughout the process. Be honest and transparent. Let your employees share their questions and concerns. Answer them as best as you can. This alleviates stress for your employees and builds trust….if you’re consistent and confident with your questions and answers.
    5. Do this Consistently and You Will Succeed: When it comes to computer service support and repair, this is how you build a successful partnership between your own employees and outside vendors. When you make this happen, you can rapidly scale your business.

Learn more about the author Bob Martin

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